Ex Birdsboro woman, now of Norristown, admits driving on speed in Limerick crash that injured passenger

NORRISTOWN — A former Birdsboro woman has admitted to driving under the influence of “speed” when she crashed her car into a telephone pole in Limerick, seriously injuring her passenger, an Exeter man.

Arrison Renee Bunner, 22, formerly of the 300 block of Washington Street, Birdsboro, and most recently of Norristown, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court on Monday to a felony charge of aggravated assault by a vehicle while driving under the influence of a controlled substance, specifically methamphetamine, or “speed,” in connection with a July 2012 one vehicle crash on Swamp Pike in Limerick.

Injured during the crash was Brian Blackwell, 26, of Lilac Lane, Exeter, the front seat passenger in Bunner’s 2007 Saturn sedan. Authorities said Blackwell was left in a comatose state after the 9:25 a.m. July 13 crash that occurred on Swamp Pike in the area of William Penn Drive in Limerick.

Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy deferred sentencing Bunner pending the completion of a background investigation and a drug and alcohol evaluation. Bunner, who remains free on bail pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of five-to-10 years in prison on the charge. However, state sentencing guidelines would allow for minimum jail sentences ranging from six- to 16- months.

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Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Reifsnyder vowed to seek a state prison sentence against Bunner, a 2009 Daniel Boone Area High School graduate.

“This is why driving under the influence is considered a very serious offense because the risk to human life is so high when you have an intoxicated person behind the wheel of a fast, powerful machine,” Reifsnyder said.

“Everyone knows you’re not supposed to drive a car when you’re under the influence of drugs. She knew it and she did it anyway and the results were tragic,” Reifsnyder added.

Bunner, who most recently resided in the 600 block of Calamia Drive, Norristown, is represented by defense lawyer Francis Genovese.

According to court records, Bunner was driving her car northbound on Swamp Pike when she crashed her vehicle into a utility pole and then traveled off the road. When police responded to the crash they found that the front seat passenger, Blackwell, had suffered serious injuries. Blackwell was flown by medical helicopter to Hahnemann University Hospital.

Police interviewed witnesses at the scene of the crash, including several who told them they saw Bunner throw a box into an area of high grass where her vehicle came to rest, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Limerick Detective Ernie Morris and county Detective Robert Turner.

Witnesses also told police they didn’t see any reason for Bunner to have driven her vehicle off the roadway, according to court documents. However, when police interviewed Bunner, she told them an animal ran in front of her vehicle and that’s when the crash occurred.

Police recovered a box, which appeared to have fresh blood on it, from the grassy area that witnesses had referenced and inside there was a quantity of drugs and paraphernalia, including razor blades, pills, and 2.45 grams of an off-white solid material identified as methamphetamine, according to court documents. When police spoke with Bunner the day of the crash she admitted to throwing the box into the woods as she knew it “had drugs in it.”

Bunner claimed that Blackwell had told her he was holding the box for someone else. Bunner initially told police the last time she had used an illegal substance was “two days ago,” and she specified that she had used “speed,” which was a powder she had snorted.

However, detectives alleged in the arrest affidavit that Bunner later remembered she had also used Xanax, and then remembered she had done “speed” between 2 and 3 a.m. the day before the crash. Bunner also told police she had been unable to sleep since using speed the day before the crash, and she only had “about a two-hour nap.” Bunner told police she had to “shake her head a couple times to ‘clear it up,’” prior to the crash, according to the arrest affidavit.

The day after the crash, Bunner called police to tell them she had additional information for them. Court documents indicate Bunner told detectives a friend reminded her she had taken speed after midnight the day of the crash, although she didn’t remember doing it until she was reminded by her friend. Bunner also maintained she saw an animal in the roadway, stating, “I saw something run across the street, but I’m not sure what made me see it. If it wasn’t there, did I see something because I was really tired or did I fall asleep and it was part of a dream? I don’t really know.”

A toxicology test determined Bunner had quantities of amphetamine and methamphetamine, in addition to other substances, in her blood at the time of the crash, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities said Blackwell later was transferred from Hahnemann University Hospital to Pottstown Memorial Medical Center and then finally to Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital where he remained in a comatose state, “unconscious and unresponsive.”

With the charges, detectives alleged Bunner drove in a reckless and careless manner while impaired and under the influence of a controlled substance to a degree that rendered her incapable of safe operation of a motor vehicle and that resulted in the serious injuries to Blackwell.